School Years
by Matilda Suzanne
Summary: Regulus Black was one of the unsung heroes of the war against Voldemort. But before he was a hero, he was a Death Eater, and before that, he was a Hogwarts student. Marauder's era, AU.
1. September 1

September 1

September 1, 1972 started with a row. It happened at breakfast, and no one was surprised. After all, even the Rosiers, who were only visiting for the summer, knew that anytime Walburga and Sirius Black were in the same room for more then ten minutes there would be trouble. Regulus and his father had perfected the art of staying out of the crossfire long ago, and when Phronsie Rosier, Regulus' best friend, was around to laugh with him, the constant screaming matches were even mildly amusing. However, when Regulus himself was the subject of the row, it was more difficult to ignore.

And he had been the subject of nearly every argument _all summer._ It was almost enough to make Regulus regret he was finally going to Hogwarts. Because, of course, the reason Sirius and Mrs. Black were thinking about Regulus now was because he was starting his first year, and at the beginning of first year, you get sorted. Mrs. Black was determined that Regulus would be sorted into Slytherin. Sirius was equally adamant that Regulus should be a Gryffindor. Neither had bothered to remember the fact that were the sorting hat to listen to anyone on the subject, it would be Regulus, not them. Of course, the arguments had really been just thinly disguised repeats of the same quarrel they always had- Slytherin vs. Gryffindor, purebloods vs. everyone else, Black vs. not.

The row at breakfast was the same as all the others, except for the fact that everyone was participating, everyone being Mr. and Mrs. Black, Sirius, and all four Rosier children. Mrs. Black, as usual, started it.

"Obviously he'll be a Gryffindor. He's decent, unlike the rest of the family. And he hates all of the boys who will be in his year in Slytherin." Sirius declared loudly. "You can sit with me and James and Remus and Peter on the train, Reggie." He added.

"Regulus may not be very forceful about his views but he has entirely proper ideas about dignity and purity. He won't go disgracing the family by messing up his sorting. And he most certainly will not sit with you and you mudblood friends on the train!" Mrs. Black shrieked.

"And what's so terrible about Slytherins?" Clio scowled at Sirius.

"Regulus will get along just fine with the other boys in his year. As a Black, he'll be treated with respect and deference by all of them." Giles added. Giles was going to be a seventh year, and had never been anything but nasty to Regulus. Phronsie, the youngest Rosier, who was Regulus' best friend, had told him stories about Giles that made him want to be a Gryffindor just to avoid him. Regulus had a gift for avoiding things.

"He won't want to sit with you on the train in any case. Your friends are all uncouth louts. _Mudbloods_." Ariadne said scornfully. She was going into fifth year, and her only talents seemed to be looking pretty and flirting with future husbands.

"Don't call them that, you- "

"SIRIUS ORION BLACK, DO NOT FINISH THAT SENTENCE, OR YOU WILL NOT GET ANY MEALS FOR A WEEK!" Mrs. Black roared.

"I'M GOING BACK TO HOGWARTS TODAY, YOU OLD HAG, SO I'LL EAT WHAT I WANT!" Sirius shouted back.

"I'LL JUST PUNISH YOU WHEN YOU COME HOME FOR CHRISTMAS!"

"I WON'T COME FOR CHRISTMAS!"

"OH YES YOU WILL!"

"MAKE ME!" Mrs. Black smiled nastily.

"Oh I won't have to. You see, you may be an incorrigible blood traitor, but you do love your brother, and since he'll be a Slytherin and will know better then to talk to you during school, you'll have to come home for Christmas if you want to see him before summer. And you will, I know very well that he's the only reason you came home the last two years." Regulus was impressed. Usually his mother wasn't given to logic- fanatical rages were more her style. Sirius was floundering in the face of her sensible argument- Sirius was capable of matching Mrs. Black shout for shout, but he too, was not inclined to logic. Regulus would never dare tell either of them, but they were really quite alike.

"Well… he won't be a Slytherin. He hasn't got the right personality. Right, Dad?" Regulus winced. If Sirius was bringing their father into it, then he really couldn't think of anything to say. Sirius ought to know that Mr. Black would never stand up to his wife. Mr. Black lowered his paper slowly and carefully regarded both of his sons.

"Well, he'd do better in Slytherin then Gryffindor, although I think he's a better fit for Ravenclaw." He said thoughtfully. "Isn't it time for you lot to be going? Don't want anyone to miss the train." Then he raised his paper again, signaling the end of his willingness to participate in the conversation. Everyone stared at him in shock for a few seconds before they realized he was right about the time and a mad scramble for trunks and owls began.

By far the most amusing part of the whole affair was that as they rushed around, both Sirius and Mrs. Black could be heard muttering "Ravenclaw…_Ravenclaw_…of all the ideas…" in the exact same tone of utter incredulity.

Mr. Black's shocking statement only managed to keep Mrs. Black quiet for a limited time. By the time they reached platform nine and three quarters Regulus was highly entertained by the fact that Sirius and Mrs. Black were taking it in turns to slander Ravenclaw in his ear, instead fighting over Gryffindor vs. Slytherin with each other. However, he was quite sick of the other things his mother was saying, especially the bits that involved entreating him to ignore his brother completely at school. Sirius, at least, was not asking that Regulus ignore their mother, although to be fair, it probably hadn't occurred to Sirius that anyone would need encouragement to do so.

In the end, Regulus was quite glad to be rid of both of them, and as soon as Sirius was distracted by the arrival of James Potter, he slipped down the train with Phronsie to sit in an empty compartment. He flopped down onto the seat and sighed.

"Merlin. They're all mad. Complete lunatics. How I came out of a family like that I shall never know. At least I'll escape them at school."

"What if you're a Gryffindor?" Phronsie suggested, eyes twinkling mischievously.

"I won't be." Regulus shook his head emphatically. "I don't have the right personality for it. I'd love to be a Ravenclaw, but I'll probably end up in Slytherin- I'm too willing to pretend to be someone I'm not to be anywhere else. But it doesn't matter- mother will be delighted, but she won't be _there_."

"Well, I don't care what house you're in as long as it's the same as mine." Phronsie smiled at him, then changed the subject abruptly. "Did you look at any of our books?"

Regulus shrugged. "I read them" Phronsie scowled.

"And of course, now you've memorized them. I think a photographic memory should be considered cheating."

"Well, the inbreeding has to have some advantages- the looks, the brains- because it certainly has disadvantages. Just look at Mother and Bella. They're barely sane. And I bet it wouldn't take much for Sirius to go the same way." Phronsie laughed, and they spent the rest of the train ride reminding each other of all the things Sirius had done as a child which might prove his impending insanity. At one point, Regulus was telling Phronsie about an incident involving Bella's wedding, Filibuster's wet-start-no-heat fireworks, a live pig, and, Regulus suspected, a fair amount of wine. Just as he finished the story, Sirius himself walked in.

"Reggie, I just came to check on you…" he trailed off and stared at Phronsie, who was giggling helplessly. "What's up with her?"

"I can't imagine." Regulus said, face carefully expressionless. Sirius looked skeptical, but shrugged it off.

"Well, Reg, you'd best be getting changed, we're almost there. And just remember- "Sirius hesitated, running a hand through his hair. "I know I've been really pushing Gryffindor, but…er…just…you can always come to me. I mean, it doesn't matter what house you're in. I'm your brother and if you need me all you need to do is ask." Sirius, who had grown remarkably red during this speech, exited the compartment hastily while Regulus and Phronsie were still staring at him.

"That's the nicest thing he's ever said to me." Regulus said weakly, still staring at the place where Sirius had just been standing.

"Maybe he isn't an example of the disadvantages of inbreeding. After all, it must have taken a great deal of rational planning for him to acquire a live pig at his cousin's wedding." Phronsie suggested seriously. They looked at each other for a second, then burst into laughter. When they finally pulled themselves together to go get changed, Regulus paused.

"You know, I always wondered where he got that pig. Father did too. I know for a fact that he spent a good hour of the time Mother thought he was lecturing Sirius just trying to find out. As far as I know, he never told."

"I bet he'll tell you if you make Gryffindor." Phronsie grinned.

"Oh well." Regulus shrugged. "I guess I'll never know, then."

By the time Regulus and Phronsie had finished changing, the train had pulled into the station. As they trudged down to the lake where Hagrid was waiting, each of Phronsie's siblings stopped them in turn to wish them good luck in the sorting. Regulus barely listened, though- he was too busy worrying about the pouring rain and howling wind.

Regulus hadn't noticed the storm starting on the warm, dry train, but by the time they had reached Hogsmeade station the wind and the rain had worsened considerably, and when Regulus found out that they were expected to get into small wooden boats and cross the raging waters of the Black Lake, his good mood vanished. Regulus climbed into a boat with Phronsie and two boys he didn't know.

Regulus was sure there was some sort of spell to pull the oar less fleet of boats across the lake, because he certainly noticed when it broke and their boat spun off into the waves. The other boats went on ahead, and left them all alone in the middle of the raging lake, with the boat steadily filling up with water.

"We could use our hats to bail." One of the boys suggested, eying the rising water nervously.

"Bail?" Phronsie asked, looking as confused as Regulus felt. The boy took off his hat and scooped some water out of the boat.

"Like that." Regulus and Phronsie looked at each other in amusement. Some of the ideas muggles came up with to substitute for magic were ingenious. This wasn't one of them. _Muggles._ He thought. The boy noticed their amusement.

"Well, I'll admit it seems a bit pointless, but do you have any better ideas?" he asked, annoyed. Regulus opened his mouth to reply scornfully about ineffectual muggle ideas, but suddenly the other boy groaned, leaned over the side and threw up. This proved to be too much for Regulus' already queasy stomach, and he barely managed to make it to the side himself before he followed suit. And nearly pitched out of the boat as a particularly large wave hit them.

"Thank you." Regulus said hoarsely to the boy who'd grabbed his robes and kept him in the boat when he finally got his breath back. The boy nodded anxiously. They were a sorry looking lot, Regulus thought ruefully, looking around. The boy who'd thrown up looked horribly green, Phronsie looked horribly cold, and the boy who'd suggested bailing just looked scared. Regulus imagined he probably looked worst of the lot.

"I suppose we could try the bail thing. If no one's got any other ideas." Phronsie said unenthusiastically. The other boys nodded, and they all took off their hats and began scooping water out of the boat.

Regulus was the one facing backwards, so he was the last one to see the wave. He only turned around in involuntary response to the looks of gaping horror on the others' faces. It was enormous, foaming white on the edges, and Regulus knew beyond a shadow of a doubt that it was going to swamp their boat. In silent accord, all four first years put their sodden hats back on and held on to the side of the boat. Then the wave hit.

Regulus was surprised to find that he wasn't underwater, he was in the air. Apparently the wave had not drowned the boat, it had sent it flying. Regulus was relieved for a moment, until he looked in front of them and realized that they were not going to land in the water; they were going to land on shore. The very rocky, painful looking shore. Regulus opened his mouth to warn the others, but they must have noticed his expression, because they all turned to look before he could say anything. _Turnabout is fair play._ Regulus thought grimly. And then he ceased to think at all, because as he hit the ground, he was aware only of pain, and then blackness.

This is going to be a novel length fic about Regulus, mostly canon. I'm not sure about ships yet- seeing as Regulus is only eleven, they don't really matter at the moment. I'll try to update as much as possible, but it took me a week to write this chapter, and a lot of my plans are for later. If there's something from the era you'd like included please let me know. I'm not British, so I apologize for any American expressions. My Regulus is partially inspired by the Regulus from Loki Mischeif Maker's fics, which are wonderful. And yes, the name Phronsie is stolen from the wonderful book Five Little Peppers and How They Grew. Please review!


	2. An Auspicious Start

Regulus woke up warm and dry, but with a raging headache, a stuffy nose, and an achy chest. He seemed to be in a bed in a very dark room, and he couldn't remember how he'd gotten there. He struggled to sit up so he could look around, but whoever had put him in a bed had tucked him in very tightly.

"Here" Someone said, pulling him up by the shoulders. He heard a click, and one of the torches on the wall nearby went on. They seemed to be in some sort of dormitory, except everything was white and there were cabinets full of potions against the far wall. There were also quite a few empty beds- in fact only four seemed to be in use- by Regulus, Phronsie, and the other two boys from their boat. One of whom was standing next to his bed. This was very odd. Regulus could have sworn that they'd just been on a small boat in the middle of a raging storm. Clearly, he'd blacked out.

"Where are we? How did we get here and why don't I remember getting here? And _why_ do I feel so awful?" Regulus demanded. Or tried to- his voice was horribly hoarse and he was wheezing by the time he'd finished.

"Don't talk!' The boy admonished. "You're sick. We all are, actually. That's why we're here- here is the Hogwarts hospital wing, and we got brought here by Hagrid and some Centaurs- well, the centaurs found us first- I can't _believe_ that centaurs actually exist-" The boy stopped. "You're not following, are you?" He said sheepishly.

"No, not really. Why don't you start with when the boat hit the shore, because that's the last thing I remember." Regulus suggested.

"Okay. I'm Keegan McClanahan, by the way. And that's Alasdair Christie, asleep over there. We're friends from before Hogwarts- best friends; I don't know how I could have come to magic school without him, I would have been so scared. I'm Irish and he's Scottish but we've lived in London all our lives, because our dads are both no-shows and our mums are both actresses, and all the work is in London. Alasdair's mum works in a comedy club and mine does Shakespeare." Keegan paused, presumably to breathe. He certainly hadn't while he'd been talking.

Regulus took the opportunity to examine the two boys. Alasdair was fair, with sandy hair and a slight frame. He was outrageously pale, but Regulus supposed that might have been because he was sick. Keegan was stocky, with dark curly hair, deep dimples, and twinkly eyes. Friendly looking, Uncle Alphard would have described him. Uncle Alphard and Regulus both liked to watch people, although they had different reasons. Uncle Alphard watched people because he liked people and liked to understand them. Regulus watched people because he didn't like people and he didn't want to have to actually talk to them.

Regulus noticed that Keegan had sat down on his bed, which was the next one over, and pulled a blanket around him. He noticed that Keegan's face was very pale and that his voice was hoarse as well. "Should you be sleeping" He asked guiltily. Keegan shrugged dismissively.

"Most likely, but I don't mind filling you in. I'll explain about acting and Shakespeare later- don't worry, Phronsie didn't get it, so I guess you won't have either. Because you're both purebloods, so you don't like muggles, she said?" Regulus shifted uncomfortably.

"Well, our families don't. Some purebloods like muggles, and some are indifferent, but nearly all don't know much about them- we never need to interact with them. But it's kind of complicated."

'All right." Keegan said doubtfully. "I will ask you more later- or Alasdair will, he hates not knowing things. But for now I'll get on with it." He took a deep breath. "So, when we crashed, you hit your head and went out like a light. The rest of us were a bit banged up but conscious and we could see that we needed to get away from the water, so we dragged you off the rocks and into the woods. The Forbidden Forest, I think Hagrid called it. Then we tried to wake you up, but nothing worked, and you had this awful bump and you were bleeding a bit-"

"That's enough!" Regulus interrupted, feeling queasy.

"Sorry." Keegan said apologetically. "I forget that some people don't like hearing about that kind of thing, I've always wanted to be a doctor, so-"

"Hold on, a what?" Keegan looked at him blankly.

"You know someone who helps people who are sick or hurt get better." He said slowly.

"Oh, a Healer. "Regulus said. "Okay, go on." When Keegan didn't start talking immediately, Regulus glanced at him, only to find that he looked shocked and a little sad.

"What?" he asked patiently. Keegan sighed.

"It's just- I just realized what it means. Coming to Hogwarts, I mean. I've always wanted to be a doctor. Always. And now I can't, because I'll have an education for something else entirely." Regulus didn't know what to say. After all, he'd been raised in a household that believed muggleborns were worthless, so he certainly wasn't prepared to understand the problems that muggleborns faced when they entered the wizarding world. But with Keegan sitting in the next bed over looking as if he were about to cry, Regulus figured he had to have a go.

"Well, I bet you'll feel better when you know more about the wizarding world. Then you'll still have lost something, but what you gained will be more real, if that makes sense." To Regulus's surprise, Keegan looked much cheerier.

"Maybe you're right." He wiped his eyes on his blanket surruptiously. "So, I'll get on with the story. After we decided we weren't going to be able to wake you up, we decided to get farther into the forest."

"What! You went deeper into the forest? _Why_?" Regulus shouted, although it came out as more of a painful rasp.

"Don't shout, I said." Keegan scolded. "And it was because we didn't know that the forest was dangerous, we just saw that the trees were thicker farther in so less water was getting through. So we went farther in. But then we got lost, and I was getting tired, lugging you- I mean, Alasdair and Phronsie helped a bit, but I'm the biggest, so I mostly carried you."

"Er- thanks." Regulus said awkwardly.

"Oh don't worry about it. " Keegan said dismissively. "Anyway, we were tired and lost, so we sat down, and I slept a bit, and so did the others, I guess, because Hagrid said that there had been a search party calling for us, but none of us remember hearing anything. It was getting light when we got going again, and by then all of us felt awful. We've all had pneumonia, that's why we're still here- this is the hospital wing."

"Still here?" Regulus asked cautiously. 'How long have we been here?" Keegan looked up in surprise.

"Didn't I tell you? It's September 2- well, its past midnight, so I guess its September 3. You were out all day. And we were the first first years ever to miss the sorting and the first two days of class- we're not allowed to start until Monday."

"Excellent." Regulus muttered. "What an auspicious start to my Hogwarts career. Well, go on then, Keegan. "

"Er, all right. So we started wandering around, but I don't think we really got anywhere. We tried to get back to the lake because we had no idea how to get anywhere else, but we could have been going in the wrong direction entirely, for all I know. Then we ran into a bunch of centaurs. They were so cool! I mean, I've read stories about centaurs, but when Alasdair and I found out that magic was real, we weren't sure whether any of the other things would be real- like centaurs and dragons and elves and vampires."

"Muggles know about magical creatures?" Regulus asked incredulously. "It's the Ministry's biggest job to make sure that muggles never find out about our world!"

"Well, they don't know about them, they just have stories about them, and nobody believes they're true. There are a lot of stories about centaurs, but none of them are right. Like, the Chronicles of Narnia says that centaurs are proud but usually fight for Aslan- the good guys. But the centaurs we met didn't seem to want anything to do with humans at all- the ones who noticed us. Some of them kept saying things like; 'Jupiter is in Saturn's house this month.' or 'Leo and Canis Major are moving quickly'." Keegan made his voice deep and vibrant in mimicry of the centaurs' dignified tones.

"That's funny. Leo and Canis Major are the constellations my and my brother's stars are in." Regulus observed.

"You have stars?" Keegan asked, brow furrowed with bewilderment.

"We're named for stars." Regulus corrected. "Most Blacks are. Either stars or constellations."

"Oh. Do a lot of wizarding families do that?"

"Only the Blacks do stars, but a lot of Pureblood families use old fashioned or unusual names. Greek or Latin, usually. Phronsie's real name is Sophronia, and her sisters are Ariadne and Clio. My brother's name is Sirius." Regulus explained patiently. It suddenly occurred to him that according to his mother's standards, he should not be talking to this boy. He made a mental note to remember to tell Keegan to be less friendly in front of others. Regulus had no intention of drawing everyone's attention as a rebel. He was no Sirius.

"Well, I suppose it's not so bad if everyone has weird names. Shall I go on?" Keegan asked. Regulus nodded, and Keegan launched back into his tale.

"Well, the centaurs did turn out to be helpful, because one of them said that Hagrid was looking for us and that they would take us to him. And we got to ride them!"

"They let us _ride_ them?" Regulus exclaimed, suddenly sorry he had been unconscious.

"Hagrid was surprised too. They didn't seem too happy about it, actually, but I guess they could see that we were pretty sick. Anyway, they took us to Hagrid's hut, and he brought us back to school- he carried you. And we came in through this big hall with a lot of doors, the Entrance Hall, and then we went into the Great Hall, which was so cool. The ceiling looked like the sky outside, and there were five tables, one for each House and one for teachers, and they each had a banner. You'll get to see it later, that's where we eat meals."

"Keegan, my family has been attending Hogwarts for hundreds of years. I know about the Great Hall." Regulus said patiently.

"Oh right." Keegan smiled sheepishly. "It was just so exciting, although I would rather have seen it when I was clean and dry and didn't have a raging fever." He paused to wrap his blanket tighter around himself. Regulus felt a brief pang of guilt for keeping Keegan up when he was obviously still sick, but pushed it aside. He wanted to know what had happened.

"So, we went through the Great Hall…" He prompted.

"Oh, well, the whole school was eating breakfast there, and everybody cheered when we came in. I guess they all knew we'd been missing. Then Professor McGonagall came and apologized- she was the one who said that a first year had never missed the sorting before. Then a boy wearing a red and gold tie-"

"A Gryffindor." Regulus interrupted.

"And a boy and two girls wearing green and silver ties-"

"Slytherins."

"They came running up and all shouted at once, wanting to know whether we were all right and what had happened. Phronsie told me later it was your brother and her brother and sisters. Anyway, they all followed us to the hospital wing, but Madam Pomfrey sent them all away after she told them that you had concussion and we all had pneumonia. Do all staircases move around in the wizarding world?" Keegan asked.

"No." Regulus shook his head. "Hogwarts is famous for them."

"And portraits? Do they all move, and talk?"

"Of course. What do muggle portraits do, stand still and be silent?" Regulus asked incredulously.

"Well, yeah. But we don't really use portraits anymore, we use photographs. They don't move or speak either." Keegan explained.

"Weird. Wizarding photographs don't talk, but they do move. Did anyone tell you when we're going to be sorted? Or are you already sorted?"

"No, we're going to get sorted at dinner tomorrow- we're going to be allowed out of the hospital wing to sleep that night, because it's a Friday and we won't have class the next day. So we'll only have missed two days of class, today and tomorrow. We were really bored today- well, yesterday, but your brother came by to visit four times, and he promised to bring us all something to do tomorrow." Keegan yawned. 'I think I'm going back to sleep. You should too. If you need a headache potion, it's one of the blue ones on your bedside table, and if you need a decongestant it's one of the pink."

"All right. Thanks, Keegan." Regulus rolled over and uncorked the blue potion. He swallowed it in one gulp, grimacing. "Disgusting."

"The decongestant's even worse." Keegan said sleepily. "Night."

"Night." Regulus took the decongestant, which was, indeed, worse, and lay down. He only had time to worry briefly about what dangerous thing Sirius would deem appropriate to amuse four first years in the Hospital wing for a day before he drifted off to sleep.


	3. A Secret Friendship

disclaimerThis does not belong to me, except for the plot and a few characters, and if you don't know that you probably should read the Harry Potter books before you return to this story.

Sirius provided four dungbombs, three packages of Bertie Botts, a pack of wet-start fireworks, and all of their books. Needless to say, Madam Pomfrey confiscated the dungbombs and the fireworks.

"I can't believe it! You're stuck in the hospital wing and she won't even let you have dungbombs!" Sirius complained loudly, flopping on Regulus' bed. Regulus grinned.

"Didn't Lupin tell you that she would? I know that you have no common sense but I thought he did."

"He didn't have anything to do with it. We each picked one thing for me to bring, and his was the textbooks." Sirius said cheerfully. Then he frowned and fiddled with Regulus' covers. "You're all right, Reggie, aren't you? I've been worried."

"You don't worry." Regulus said. But as soon as he said it he realized it wasn't quite true. Sirius didn't worry about the consequences of his actions, and he didn't worry about his relationship with his parents, or his grades, or his health, but he did worry about Regulus, and to a lesser extent, their cousin Narcissa, who Sirius deemed 'a little spoiled but decent'. Sirius was irresponsible to the extreme, but he did possess a few older brother instincts. "I'm okay." Regulus assured him. "Just a bit of a headache."

"All right then." Sirius heaved himself off the bed. "I've got to go to Potions, unfortunately. "I'll come visit again later, shall I?"

"Only if you want to. We're being sorted at supper tonight." Regulus replied.

"Okay. Don't be too easy on Poppy." Sirius grinned and bounded out of the room.

"I heard that Mr. Black!" Madam Pomfrey shouted from her office, but Regulus could hear Sirius laughing as he sped down the corridor.

"Your brother's funny." Keegan remarked, examining a package of Bertie Botts. "What are these?" Regulus was about to reply when he realized that Ariadne Rosier was standing over her sister's bed, and that she would certainly report back to Giles on how he acted.

"My brother is undignified. " Regulus said coldly, trying to sneer, as Lucius Malfoy often did. "And those are a wizarding sweet." Keegan looked shocked and then hurt, but he didn't attempt to talk to Regulus again. Alasdair looked like he wanted to scold Regulus about it, but Keegan began to talk to him, so he satisfied himself with just a glare. Regulus observed that Keegan seemed to be more sensitive and Alasdair more protective, although Keegan was bigger, better-looking, and more talkative. Regulus knew he wasn't going to be able to be friends with them, but he resolved to apologize and explain a little about Wizard politics after Ariadne left anyway. He didn't have long to wait. Ariadne left the room, presumably also for class, only a few minutes later.

"Sorry." Regulus said, immediately after she was gone. "I couldn't be nice to you in front of Ariadne" Keegan looked confused, but he nodded. Alasdair, however, looked suspicious.

"Why not?" He demanded. Regulus looked at Phronsie, who shook her head violently.

"Oh, no. If you're going to attempt to explain wizard politics to muggleborns count me out. It'll give me a headache, and it's not as if it matters what they think of us, we're never going to speak to them after the sorting anyway." She picked up one of her textbooks, which Regulus recognized as Charms, and began to read.

"Well then." He grumbled. "I guess it's up to me." He raked a hand through his hair, and turned to Alasdair and Keegan. "All right, it's awfully complicated, so bear with me."

"There are three types of wizards. Purebloods, Half-bloods, and Muggleborns. Muggleborns are like you two- they have two non-magical parents. Half-bloods have one magical parent and one Muggle or Muggleborn parent, and Purebloods are all magical. But plenty of people have different mixes so I guess it's really pureblood, muggleborn, or any combination of non pureblood magical parentage.The purity of your blood doesn't have any affect on how powerful you are, but it does matter to a lot of people. There's a lot of prejudice against muggleborns, in the Ministry and the media and at Hogwarts and everywhere really. Mostly, it's the really old Pureblood families that really care about blood purity. Like my family and Phronsie's. Although there are some Pureblood families that don't think that way-" Regulus took in the blank looks on Alasdair and Keegan's faces and paused.

"er, hold on, I'm not explaining this well. Let me try again." He thought for a minute before starting over.

"Okay. It sort of started at Hogwarts. Hogwarts was founded by four people, over a thousand years ago. Godric Gryffindor, Helga Hufflepuff, Rowena Ravenclaw, and Salazar Slytherin. They built the school together, but when it came time for them to accept students, Slytherin only wanted to accept students with magical parents, but the others wanted to accept everybody who had talent. There was a big fight, and in the end, Slytherin left, but not before they put a spell on Gryffindor's hat to make it into the sorting hat. They each put some of their brains in, so the hat would be able to sort people into their houses based on whether or not they had the characteristics that particular founder valued. The system was supposed to help the students make friends and find a place to belong by putting similar people together. Hufflepuff wanted hard working, fair minded people, Gryffindor wanted brave, loyal people, Ravenclaw wanted clever and studious people, and Slytherin wanted ambitious people of magical parentage.

That works pretty well, except that since the hat puts people who care about blood purity in Slytherin, and people who don't in the other houses, the Slytherins don't really get along with anyone else. They especially don't get along with the Gryffindors. Even after they leave school, there's sort of a split, although iof course it's not a perfect divide along House lines."

"Why don't they just end the house system, then?" Keegan asked. Regulus frowned.

"Slytherin was a great wizard. He contributed a lot to the school, even though he was prejudiced. He deserves to be honored. And even though our numbers are dwindling- there's not much choice if you're only going to let your children marry purebloods- purebloods still have a lot of the power and the money in wizarding society. After all, we've had centuries to build it up. My family is one of the most powerful and purest in our world. And everyone knows who's pure and who's not- the names of the pureblood families are also the most well known, and when a pureblood marries a non pureblood, everyone remembers, because it's a scandal. Even the non prejudiced purebloods usually marry purebloods, because they've never had any interaction with muggles. They never have any reason to."

"So one quarter of the entire wizarding world is going to treat us like second class citizens?" Alasdair said, scowling. "We should have stayed in London and gone into theater, Keegan."

"And not have any magic?" Keegan protested. Then he frowned. "Can you even do that? Refuse the letter?" Regulus had to stop and think about that one. It had never occurred to him that anyone wouldn't want to accept their letter.

"No one has to come to Hogwarts, I don't think. But untrained magic is dangerous. All kids do accidental magic before Hogwarts, but as you get older, it gets more powerful and therefore more dangerous. Accidental magic in general is more powerful then controlled magic. Kids do all sorts of things by accident that it takes years to learn to do on purpose. If a lot of muggleborns refused to go to Hogwarts, the Ministry would never be able to cover it up. There are a lot of purebloods who don't protest muggleborns coming to Hogwarts just because of that." Regulus explained.

"I guess I can see that." Alasdair replied thoughtfully. "Keegan and I both set things on fire sometimes, and Keegan fixed things we broke a couple of times, and once I turned us invisible, but when the Welcome Witch came to explain our letters to us and help us get to Diagon Alley, she said that fixing things and invisibility were advanced magic and we probably wouldn't be able to do them again until we were much older." Alasdair frowned. "But don't a lot of muggleborns just get trained and then leave the wizarding world because of all the prejudice?"

"Well, it's kind of complicated. For one thing, it's I would think that it would be hard for muggleborns to go back after Hogwarts, because they're not prepared for any non magical career. And secondly, it's not as bad as you're making it sound. A hundred years ago, my Aunt Elladora led a campaign to legalize muggle hunting that almost passed. Now, although some families still think that way, it's not acceptable to say so right out. It's sort of an open secret- everyone knows but no one talks about it, and if someone from the old families does do something they usually get away with it, but hate crimes are unacceptable. So muggleborns get called names in school sometimes, and they can't win any kind of legal argument against a pureblood, but they can have jobs and families and money and stuff. Another part of it is that a fair mount of the people who are prejudiced aren't really interested in doing anything about it. They won't marry muggles, they won't intervene when they're being mistreated, but they won't do anything themselves." Alasdair nodded, although Keegan looked a little lost. "It's a little hard to explain." Regulus added apologetically.

"It's all right." Alasdair said. "I can see that it's complicated. But I still have a couple of questions."

"Go ahead." Regulus looked over at Phronsie, who was steadfastedly pretending to be asleep. He'd thought that Phronsie was like him- a blood-traitor at heart, but not willing to act like it. Maybe he'd been wrong. The thought was unsettling. He didn't think Phronsie would betray his sentiments to her siblings- or, Merlin forbid, his mother- but if they didn't feel the same way about something so important, their friendship could hardly stay the same.

"Are all purebloods prejudiced? Either the indifferent kind, or the actually open about it kind?" Alasdair asked finally, struggling to find the correct terms to ask about what he wanted to know.

"No." Regulus shook his head emphatically. "The traditional ones call the unprejudiced ones blood traitors. Whole families or just one person can be blood traitors. My brother is one, and that's a huge deal, because the Blacks have been all pure and all Slytherin for centuries, and he's been sorted into Gryffindor and made friends with a blood traitor and two half bloods, among other things. It's causing a family feud, although it's really more like everyone's either against him or staying out of it. He'll be out the door as soon as he comes of age, if not sooner, and my mother will be glad to see him go. There are others like him, although mostly they rebel more quietly, or as adults. And then there are the blood traitor families. The Potters, the Weasleys, the Prewetts, the McKinnons, the Bones, the Longbottoms, and others. There are even fewer of them then the traditional purebloods because they aren't working to keep their blood pure."

"And your family is traditional?" Alasdair asked quietly. Regulus sighed.

"My family is the worst. The richest, purest, most powerful, and most prejudiced of all of them. And everyone is going to be watching me especially carefully because of what Sirius did. My family won't allow him to inherit if he's not going to uphold traditional values, so everyone knows that I'm going to get everything. And that's why I was so rude earlier. I'm sorry. I'm probably a blood traitor at heart, but I'm also eleven years old and I'm not ready to fight my whole family. I'd rather pretend to be something I'm not then have to fight my way through seven years of Hogwarts and have everyone talking about what I did all the time, and be miserable at home. Sirius will be disappointed, but he'll still be my brother. So I'm not going to bully you or call you Mudbloods or anything, but I won't be your friend or even a friendly acquaintance. Last name basis only." Regulus sat back in bed and took a noisy gulp of water.

"What's a Mudblood?" Keegan asked. Regulus gaped.

"That wasn't really my main point, you know." He pointed out incredulously.

"Oh, I know. But you said we could ask questions." Keegan replied cheerfully. Regulus was unsettled. Even Alasdair looked a little bewildered by Keegan's attitude.

"Er.." He cleared his throat uncomfortably. "Well, it's an insult. Means muggleborn. It's extremely rude, and is considered a curse by the staff, but a lot of the Slytherins use it as a matter of course. You should be very offended if someone calls you that."

"Thanks." Keegan said tranquilly, "Alasdair, could I have a word?" Alasdair still looked confused, but he climbed over to Keegan's bed, where they began a whispered conversation. Regulus looked over at Phronsie and felt very alone. He'd been so sure he'd always have her, but it looked like they were going to be friends only as long as they did not talk about this issue, and with that kind of wall in the way, what kind of friendship could they have? He still had Sirius, but Sirius had never been his friend, only his brother. His dorm mates in Slytherin would be like Phronsie at best, and even if he ended up somewhere else, _he_ would have to pretend to be like Phronsie. Regulus burrowed miserably into his covers.

"Well, we've decided." Keegan announced. Regulus looked over, startled. Keegan had a satisfied grin on his face, and Alasdair was expressionless. "We'll be friends with you anyway."

"Er- Come again?" Regulus asked blankly.

"I said, we'll be friends anyway. Even though we have to pretend not to be. We can meet privately, and send notes, or work together in class and say it's just to be polite. We don't like cowardice, but really, what you're doing isn't cowardice, it's compromise. And we can respect _that_. Besides, after what happened on the lake, we _have_ to be friends." Keegan grinned triumphantly, as if Regulus couldn't argue with his logic.

"But why would you want to be friends with someone who's never going to stand up for you and is going to pretend to not like you?" Regulus asked, bewildered.

"We told you, because we think not wanting to lose your family is reason enough to want to pretend, and we think we should be friends anyway." Keegan said.

"And as a purely practical matter, it'll be useful for us to have a friend who can explain how our enemies are thinking. What you just told us will be immensely useful. All your brother told us was that Slytherins were all wankers. Not very helpful" Alasdair added, saying "Slytherins were all wankers " in Sirius' voice. Regulus laughed out loud.

"You're a mimic!" He said delightedly.

"A very good mimic." Alasdair said smugly- in Regulus's voice. Regulus laughed again. He kept smiling as ge rubbed his nose in thought.

"So, a secret friendship?" He asked hesitantly.

"Yeah! Whatever you feel like is safe." Keegan nodded enthusiastically. Regulus was about to agree when he thought of Phronsie.

"Phronsie." He said quietly.

"Don't worry." Keegan assured him. "She can be in it too." Regulus ignored him.

"Phronsie." He said again. She shifted in her bed.

"I don't want to be a part of it." She asserted quietly. 'But I won't tell." Then she pulled the covers over her head, indicating the end of her participation in the conversation. Alasdair frowned.

"Can we-"

"Yes." Regulus said firmly. "I trust her."

"Well then. If my friend trusts her, so do I." Alasdair said, a crooked grin creeping over his face. Keegan was beaming, and Regulus was smiling so brightly that he knew his dimples must be showing.

"So Regulus," Keegan asked. "What's special about these sweets?" He waved the package of Bertie Botts.

"They really mean every flavor- they have all the normal ones, and then they have steak and popcorn and spinach and water and dirt and wood- everything." Keegan and Alasdair both looked skeptical. Alasdair tried a white one and Keegan a green. They both made horrible faces.

"Well?"

"Grass." Keegan said in disgust.

"Paper." Alasdair added with a grimace. 'Oh well. They're not boring."

"Can we ask you questions about our textbooks?" Keegan asked eagerly. "We read them as soon as we got them, but there are so many things we have questions about-"

"You know, I don't know everything just because I'm a pureblood. We wouldn't need to go to Hogwarts if we did. But I'll answer what I can."

The boys talked happily for the rest of the day, eating beans and laughing at Alasdair's perfect mimicry, and by the time Madam Pomfrey released them to go to the feast, their secret friendship was cemented. Phronsie was quiet as they followed Professor McGonagall down to dinner, but when Regulus reached for her hand on the moving staircase, she squeezed it briefly before letting go, and Regulus knew that they would still be friends, albeit not as close as before.

They stopped in the Entrance hall, before a massive set of closed double doors.

"You would have gone into an antechamber over there to wait for the other students to sit down if you'd come off the boats as planned." Professor McGonagall explained apologetically. "As it is the rest of the school's already in there waiting, so we'll just go in." Regulus gulped nervously as he followed her through the door, and he could see Keegan turning green with anxiety. The whole school laughed and cheered as they walked up the aisle. Clearly, their mishap had made them infamous. When they reached the sorting hat, sitting on a plain wood stool in front of the teacher's dais, Professor Dumbledore stood and gestured for quiet.

"I would like to offer Hogwarts' most heartfelt apologies to these four first years. You will not have to make up the homework that you missed. Please ask your House prefects to relay the start of term announcements to you after you have all been sorted." Professor Dumbledore sat back down. Regulus noted thankfully that Sirius had been right when he said that Dumbledore was not one for long speeches.

"Black, Regulus" Professor McGonagall called. Regulus climbed onto the stool.

"_Well, Well, another Black." _The hat said_. "Usually you are quite routine, but your brother gave me a shock two years ago. And you are different again, I see. But not difficult. It is never difficult to see where a Black belongs. And you are quite precocious, young man, knowing where you belong. Willing to pretend, not ready to fight... yes, you do belong in Slytherin. You are only wrong in one particular."_

"_What?" _Regulus thought.

"_you are far too brave to have ever been a Ravenclaw. _SLYTHERIN!" Regulus stumbled off the stool in shock. He barely remembered to take the hat off. He dimly registered wild cheers over the polite clapping from the Slytherin table. _Wait...Cheers? Slytherins don't cheer. It's too undignified._ He thought. He looked for the source. And there was his brother, who was not only cheering wildly from the middle of the silent Gryffindor table, but who had also gotten his friends to cheer with him. Regulus met Sirius's eyes as he sat with his new house. Regulus knew that Sirius was saying with his cheers '_You will always be my brother._' And he was sure that Sirius knew that with his smile, Regulus was saying thank you.

Regulus had a warm glow in his stomach for the rest of the night, while Alasdair and then Keegan were sorted into Gryffindor, while Phronsie was sorted into Slytherin, while his dorm mates introduced themselves, and while the older Slytherins congratulated him on escaping his brother's influence. Regulus began to believe that he would enjoy Hogwarts after all, knowing that his relationship with Sirius was not going to suffer and he had two true friends.


	4. Green Lions

_Disclaimer__: __This does not belong to me, except for the plot and a few characters, and if you don't know that you probably should read the Harry Potter books before you return to this story._

_Sorry about the really long wait for an update, but I've been a) really busy and b) sort of stuck for a long time. I decided to write this story because I'm so interested in Regulus and I have so many ideas for his life story, but there are big gaps where I had nothing planned- such as his school years before the war starts. I might skip a few years at some point. Anyway, I've decided to reorganize the story into sections, and the first one (this one) will be The School Years. I don't know how long it'll be. And I've decided that the story will not be canon, because I have too many ideas that require Regulus to survive, as in Loki-Mischief Maker's wonderful fics, and because I want to use some characters that are very much AU (you'll see). Thanks for reading and please review!_

Regulus trudged gloomily into Potions after the other Slytherins. Having History of Magic as his very first class did not make for a wonderful start to his academic career. The lesson had been excruciatingly boring, although Regulus supposed it might have been more interesting if he hadn't already memorized the textbook, which Professor Binns's lectures appeared to be directly extracted from.

It would have been bearable if he'd had someone to talk to, but Phronsie had taken a desk with Desdemona Selwynn, who Regulus knew to be beautiful, cruel and rich, and who he had privately dubbed the Demon Queen. His other options were the incredibly stupid Benedicta Yaxley and Eustacia Urquhart, the even stupider Julius Montague, Marcus Baddock, and Erasmus Mulciber, or Evander Greengrass and Calliope Nott, who were both at least moderately intelligent but who he knew nothing about. In any case, the only person who ended up without a partner was Baddock, who Regulus decided to avoid after establishing over breakfast that he was barely capable of sentient thought, let alone intelligent conversation.

Regulus expected that Potions would be more of the same, unless Greengrass decided he wanted some male company and abandoned Nott. However, when Regulus entered the dungeon, his spirits lifted as he remembered that Potions was the lesson they shared with the Gryffindors. Alasdair and Keegan were whispering with a tiny dark haired girl by one of the tables, and even though Regulus knew he wasn't going to get to speak with them, he was immensely cheered by their presence.

Phronsie tapped his shoulder.

"I'll sit with you in this class." She offered, and Regulus realized, with a sudden start, how very like his cousin Narcissa she was. Cissy was a pureblood supremacist through and through, but she was quiet about it, never cruel or violent. She was the family princess and had easily sorted into Slytherin two years ago, but she had never once, in Regulus' memory, fought with Sirius about politics, and fighting with Sirius was very difficult to avoid when you were a Slytherin. Phronsie was just like that, the darling of her family, a clear Slytherin, and quietly indifferent to the inequality and growing violence in the Wizarding World. She saw nothing wrong with life the way it was, and disliked any disruption of the status quo. When she sat with Demon Queen in History of Magic, she was punishing Regulus for his aberration on Friday with Alasdair and Keegan. He sighed. It appeared that Phronsie was not the true friend he thought she was, although she had been a wonderful childhood companion and they would probably always get along. Regulus decided to do what he did best- pretend that nothing had changed and everything was exactly what it was expected to be. He sat down with Phronsie.

Not a minute after the class had finally settled fat Professor Slughorn bustled in and announced that he had assigned partners.

"Mulciber and Davies, Baddock and Morgan, Montague and Fairchild, Greengrass and Donnelly, Black and Potter…"

Potter? Regulus looked up in surprise. As far as he knew, James Potter was the only child in his entire extended family, and when it came to pureblood families, he knew a lot. He made his way to his assigned table in the back of the room, dimly registering that Keegan had been partnered with Nott, and Alasdair, poor lad, with Demon Queen. He sat down, and was immediately joined by the dark little girl Alasdair and Keegan had been talking to. She was very pretty, with wildly curling hair and a dimple when she smiled.

"I'm Milly." She offered cheerfully, climbing onto the stool. "Sirius told me you would be nice, but only when the Slytherins can't hear."

"He's correct." Regulus confirmed. He glanced around, and saw that their classmates were busy beginning their potion, and bickering, for the most part, although Nott and Keegan seemed to be getting along and Demon Queen was ordering Alasdair around imperiously while he mimicked her whenever she turned her back. At any rate, none of them were paying any attention to Regulus and Milly way in the back. He decided it was safe to have a conversation. "I wasn't aware that Potter had a sister."

"Oh, he didn't." Milly replied, a brief cloud passing over her face. They began to add ingredients to their cauldron. 'I'm a muggleborn orphan, you see. Dumbledore doesn't like us to be left in the muggle world if we don't have to be, something about the orphanages asking too many questions. So after my parents and brothers died in June, he came to get me and tell me about magic- I wasn't eleven until July- and he took me to the Potters, because they were next on the list for a magical orphan. Because they couldn't have any more children after James." Regulus had an urge to apologize about her parents, but suppressed it, sensing that she didn't want to talk about it.

"Are you part Gypsy?" He asked, trying to lighten the tone of the conversation. She grinned widely, tucking her long braid over her shoulder.

"My coloring, you mean? No, I'm Jewish."

"Ah." Regulus said, wondering if it would be impolite to ask what Jewish was. She grinned again.

"Don't worry, James didn't know either. Judaism is a muggle religion- religions are one of the ways muggle explain things like magic, or other things they don't understand, by believing in a higher power like God. Judaism is very old, however, it's more then just a religion, it's also a culture, and some say, a race. In World War II- the muggle equivalent of your war with Grindelwald- the Germans tried to kill all the Jews. My parents were Belgian, and they got captured and put in one of their death camps, but they survived the war and came to England afterwards." Regulus took a minute to absorb this.

"Is there a lot more to that you aren't telling me?" He asked, feeling as if he was missing some pieces.

"Oh, yes. It'd take hours to explain to you just the basics of Judaism and World War II. You'll have to take Muggle Studies." Regulus cringed at the thought of the row that would cause. At least Sirius hadn't done that- their mother would have blown the roof off shouting, and even their father might have come out of his study for that. Regulus wasn't even going to approach the muggle studies classroom while he was at Hogwarts. He glanced up at Milly to see her smiling at him over the cauldron.

"No? Then you can ask Sirius." Regulus regarded her suspiciously.

"He wouldn't know."

"He will after he's finished with muggle studies." She began to crush armadillo scales.

"He's not taking muggle studies. I would have heard if he was." Regulus paused, and then added, muttering, "The whole neighborhood would have heard if he was." Milly shook her head.

"Maybe he was keeping the peace." Regulus looked at her skeptically. "All right, maybe it was because he knows his little brother hates fighting and he wanted to keep their relationship strong before they got to Hogwarts and got sorted into rival houses." Regulus started.

"He wouldn't-" Regulus stopped. Maybe he would. Sirius and Regulus had always been close, and the only times Sirius had ever been willing to let go of a fight were when it had been upsetting him or occasionally, Narcissa. He looked up at Milly suspiciously. "How do you know about this anyway?"

"They were talking about it Friday night. I was in their dorm lighting Shabbat candles with James, and Sirius was convincing them to cheer for you no matter what." Regulus couldn't help but smile at the memory.

"What's Shabbat?" he asked slightly more cheerfully, stirring their potion.

"Oh, it's a Jewish custom- we light candles and say a blessing every Friday night. It's just about the only Jewish thing that was important enough to me to keep doing after…you know…" She gulped hastily. Regulus shifted uncomfortably. He didn't have much experience with crying. Sirius never did, and when Narcissa was upset, all he was expected to do was fetch Andromeda or Sirius. Being both younger and male, no one expected him to be helpful in such situations. Regulus decided to forego an attempt at actual comfort and just distract her.

"And Potter does it with you?" She nodded.

"He was really excited to get a sibling. I think he wanted me more then Mr. and Mrs. Potter did, and they were desperate for another child. Anyway, he spent every second of the summer with me- he even laid off the pranking because I don't like it. He made me teach him the blessing so we could do it together. It's supposed to be a family thing, after all." Regulus nodded and looked at their potion.

"We're done, basically. We just have to let it simmer for half an hour." He glanced around at the classroom, and snorted. "Look, inter-house cooperation at work." Fairchild was shouting at Montague, Morgan had evidently forbidden Baddock to come near the cauldron. Greengrass and Donnelly were ignoring their potion in favor of sniggering whenever Alasdair imitated Demon Queen, who was oblivious- it probably hadn't occurred to her that a muggleborn would dare to insult her dignity. A Gryffindor boy had Urquhart in tears, and Keegan was looking on in total confusion while Nott gave him a lecture on the different species of Fair Folk- elves, pixies, fairies, and merpeople. Slughorn was trying to salvage Davies and Mulciber's potion, which was smoking ominously, and Yaxley's partner had managed to write "Gryffindor forever" on the back of her robes without her noticing. Phronsie was ignoring her partner completely, and was instead reading what Regulus recognized to be her defense book. Milly shook her head in exasperation.

"It's actually very sad. You're the only non-prejudiced Slytherin in this room and you're never going to admit it." Regulus stiffened, which Milly noticed immediately. "That wasn't a criticism. I understand why you wouldn't want to lose your family, even if Sirius doesn't. Anyway, you can be friends with me and we'll just pretend we're working on potions." Regulus nodded, realizing he now had three Gryffindor friends and none in his own house. Perhaps he should attempt to at least form a surface friendship with some of the other Slytherins. Greengrass seemed reasonable- he was getting along with Donnelly just fine. And Nott was being perfectly polite to Keegan, even though she must have known that he was a muggleborn- the Notts were not like the Blacks, but they were a proud, traditional family, and Alcander Nott, who was Sirius' age, was a piece of work. He was desperately in love with Ariadne Rosier, but he was two years younger and had a reputation for being hopelessly clumsy and unlucky, so he was more likely to end up with sarcastic Clio, who was his age, or Phronsie, two years younger. At any rate, he was a first class snob, and it was a pleasant surprise to see that his sister was not. He decided to share his thoughts with Milly, who was an even pleasanter surprise.

"I think there's hope for Greengrass, at least. He seems to get on all right with Donnelly. Is she muggleborn?" He asked.

"Half blood. Her name is Susanna. And yes, they do seem to get on, although that might be because she's quite spoiled, just like he probably is." She grimaced. "She's an only child, very well off, and very self-centered. She's not mean, though, so I suppose I'll be able to tolerate her."

"Everyone in my dorm is rich and self-centered- probably everyone in my house. Although most of them are so stupid it makes no difference. Anyway, I think they're getting along because Alasdair is amusing them so much they don't have time to argue." Regulus took out a sheet of parchment. "Let's get a head start on the homework." Milly rummaged in her bag for a quill.

"You may be right. And since when are you on first name basis with a muggleborn Gryffindor? Who is _not_ your assigned potions partner." She smiled impishly. Regulus flushed. Two days into his secret friendship and he was already making a mess of it. He was _supposed_ to be a genius- Sirius and he had overheard a conversation between their father and their tutor many years ago about their 'exceptional brilliance'- an assessment mostly due to their shared ability to recite perfectly any conversation they had heard or passage they had read, and Regulus' further ability to perform complicated arithmetic in his head in seconds. And yet, when it came to people, he was possibly the stupidest person on the planet. He could convince anyone he was a fanatical pureblood supremacist, but that came from years of practice. Any other falsehood was totally beyond his capabilities.

"Well- you know- the boat- and I was sick- and I got hit on the head-" he trailed off, cursing his utter failure to lie. He misled his mother constantly, why could he not do it now? And Milly was clearly much too bright to be fooled by his stammered excuse.

"It's all right, Regulus. If you have some kind of agreement with him from the boat, I will not ask you to betray it. And I will not tell. I will tell you, however, that I approve wholeheartedly of inter-house friendships, even secret ones. I think we should form an inter-house information network- we would be the best informed people in the school, if we knew what was going on in Gryffindor _and_ Slytherin. We've already made a good start- one Slytherin and two Gryffindors. I think Davies and Morgan would join, and probably Keegan- and we should keep an eye on Greengrass and Nott, to see if they can be recruited." Regulus stared at Milly in disbelief.

"Are you proposing we form a Gryffindor-Slytherin alliance in order to collect gossip?" He asked incredulously.

"Yes, exactly, I'm glad you understand." Milly dipped her quill in her inkwell and began to write. "Although it would not be just gossip. We could exchange all kinds of information. And we could help keep peace around the school, if we were subtle about it." Regulus was about to dismiss the idea, but then reconsidered. It was outrageous, but at the same time really quite sensible. Allies and information were two things that Regulus believed to be unconditionally useful- it was the reason he had always been unfailingly kind to Kreacher, who was an invaluable ally and an endless source of information. And cultivating true friendships in both Gryffindor and Slytherin would only be to his advantage when it came time for him to make the choice that Sirius had already made. He turned to Milly.

"It's quite ambitious. But Slytherins like ambition. What's your plan?" She beamed at him.

"You watch Greengrass and Nott. I'll see about Morgan and Davies. Alasdair and Keegan we've got for sure. And we'd better find a place to meet where no one else will know-"

"The house elves." Regulus interrupted. "They'll know a place, and they'll help us, if we ask right."

"I'll ask James how to get to the kitchens. He'll know. I'll tell you next Potions class and we'll go together. Then we can form the GLA." Milly whispered excitedly.

"The GLA?" Regulus said weakly, a bit overwhelmed by her quick planning and enthusiasm.

"The Green Lion Alliance." Milly explained. Regulus processed that. Then he sighed.

"I had intended to stay out of trouble at Hogwarts- spend all my time in the library, not get involved in anything that could possibly be considered controversial. I don't like to be noticed, and I _hate_ to be involved in fighting. "He said gloomily. Milly smiled cheerfully.

"Well, Sirius did say it was easy to talk you into things. Grow a backbone. You're a Green Lion now." Milly gave him a significant look as she packed up her things and brought a vial of their potion to Professor Slughorn, causing Regulus to realize with a start that class was over. The Gryffindors left the room speedily, leaving the Slytherins to file out more decorously. Yaxley, Phronsie, and Demon Queen, were gathered around Urquhart, who was still crying, and Mulciber, Baddock, and Montague were still trying to clean up their ruined potions. Remembering the task Milly had given him, Regulus drifted towards Greengrass and Nott. Greengrass was telling Nott about Alasdair's antics delightedly, although he stopped immediately when he notice Regulus.

"Did you get on with Potter, Black?" he asked formally.

"Tolerably well, Greengrass. You and Donnelly seemed to share an appreciation of Christie's treatment of Demon Queen." Regulus risked. Greengrass snorted helplessly, and Nott giggled.

"Demon Queen… How perfect, although do not tell her that I said that." Greengrass laughed. Regulus smiled.

"I will not if you do not mention that I made it up." Greengrass and Nott promised him, and they left class chatting amiably about how they liked school. _A very promising start,_ Regulus thought, hoping that he was not doing something he would later regret.


	5. Narcissa

_Disclaimer: This does not belong to me, except for the plot and a few characters, and if you don't know that you probably should read the Harry Potter books before you return to this story._

Regulus was sitting in a rather dark and clammy corner of the common room with Nott and Greengrass, doing his potions homework and listening to the sixth and fifth years hold court by the fire. The seventh years rarely spent time in the common room. Slytherin seventh years dedicated their time to getting high profile jobs and impressing important people, and by then they'd already made all the worthwhile alliances with other Slytherins they could. So the common room fire was monopolized by the fifth and sixth years, with the second, third, and fourth years squabbling (with dignity, of course) over the other tables. The least desirable tables went automatically to the first years.

It was just as well. Regulus was confident that there were very few Slytherins smarter then him, if any, but there were an awful lot who were scarier. And some of them had nasty streaks a mile wide. Regulus may have only been at Hogwarts only a little over a week, but he already knew better then to do anything but homework in the common room. Anything else was all too likely to get you into trouble. Unfortunately Greengrass and Nott didn't seem to have figured that out yet. They were talking about Charms- and their Gryffindor partners- without even bothering to keep their voices particularly quiet. Regulus eyed the next table over nervously, which contained Alcander Nott, Narcissa, and all three elder Rosiers. Not the best bunch to overhear you talking favorably about Gryffindors. Regulus elected to follow his favorite strategy- ignore the problem and hop it would go away.

"It's so _funny_, talking to the muggleborns." Nott was giggling. "They believe everything I tell them. Well, McClanahan does. Christie's a little less gullible. But they both _listen_ to everything I say. I spent our entire first Potions lesson telling McClanahan about the Fair Folk and he never once told me to shut up. He was _fascinated._ No one else ever listens to me." She said rather wistfully.

"That's because you go on and on about the most boring things. Only a muggleborns would be ignorant enough to want to listen. But they are funny. Have you seen Christie imitate Demon Queen?" Greengrass asked eagerly, fiddling with his quill.

"Oh yes. I do like Christie." Nott was about to go on, but she was interrupted.

"You like _who_?" Greengrass, Nott and Regulus all turned. Regulus cursed silently. Now it looked like he'd been involved. And if Alcander Nott was angry, you did not want to be involved.

"Well, Calliope? Who are you talking about?" Alcander demanded.

"My Charms partner. We were talking about Hy Breasil in class. Did you know that it's the only place in the world where all the species of the Fair Folk live, and also the only place where they will interact with humans? Well, some species interact with humans in other places, but-"

"What did you say his _name_ was?" Alcander interrupted impatiently. Regulus felt sorry for Calliope. Now that her valiant attempt at distraction had failed, there was no way she was going to get out of telling Alcander. She sighed.

"Christie." She said quietly. Alcander scowled ominously.

"That's not a pureblood name." He growled.

"He's muggleborn." Calliope whispered. Regulus winced. Mistake. _Big_ mistake. The Slytherin common room was not the place to use a politically correct word like muggleborn.

"A _Mudblood_?" Alcander snarled. "Calliope, what are you doing talking about filthy mudbloods like that? Why are you talking _to_ one?"

"Professor Flitwick assigned him as my partner. We have Gryffindor partners in all the classes we have with them. And a lot of them are muggleb- mudbloods." Calliope was twisting her hands nervously and looking down at the floor. Regulus didn't blame her- Alcander was fuming and Giles Rosier was starting to look angry as well. He stood up.

"Phronsie!" He shouted. Half the common room looked up. Slytherins didn't cause scenes very often. "Phronsie!" he shouted again. Phronsie didn't take long to come down from her dorm- no one wanted to keep Giles Rosier waiting. Demon Queen followed her, unable to resist the commotion.

"Is it true that you have mudblood partners in your classes?" he demanded. Phronsie nodded obediently.

"Some of them are purebloods, but they're all at least blood traitors."

"My potions partner is a mudblood, and he laughs at me behind my back!" Demon Queen declared excitedly.

"My partner shouted at me." Montague offered from the corner where he had been struggling through his homework.

"Mine wouldn't let me near the cauldron." Baddock added resentfully.

"Mine wrote an offensive message on the back of my robes!" Yaxley cried, and then burst into tears. By now the whole house was listening, and they were incensed. Yaxley's statement had sent a wave of fury around the room. Regulus knew they were imagining a muggleborn Gryffindor boy writing something about spoiling Yaxley's purity. He wanted to tell them it had only been "Gryffindor forever", but he didn't dare. Alcander's argument with Calliope had turned into something much bigger. Giles Rosier was getting up on a _table_. Slytherins didn't climb on the furniture.

"We cannot allow this! For too long we have done nothing while mudbloods have worked their way into Wizarding society. We contented ourselves by saying that the old families were keeping themselves pure, that Slytherin house would safeguard the youth of pureblood society. But now we are being forced to interact with those of lesser blood. How long will it be before the boundary begins to blur? It cannot continue! We must take a stand, as others are doing outside Hogwarts!" There was a murmur of agreement from the crowd. Regulus was getting even more anxious. What was Giles talking about? What were others doing outside Hogwarts?

"What can we do?" Someone asked from near the entrance. The common room erupted into whispers, but Giles gestured for silence.

'Is it only the first years that are being forced to associate with filth?" He asked. There was a murmur of confirmation.

"Presumably, Giles, the goal of this measure to inspire inter-house cooperation. And everyone knows that once students have spent a year in their respective houses, it is much too late to get them to cooperate." Narcissa interjected calmly, examining her nails as if in boredom. Regulus looked at her in admiration. Sirius might have been brave, but nobody could match Narcissa for calm, cool dignity in a crisis. And she certainly wasn't stupid.

"All right then," Giles continued, nodding respectfully to Narcissa. "Well, obviously something has to be done. But, of course, we cannot forget to maintain our dignity. We are not Gryffindors, to just go duel anyone we don't like." He grinned nastily. "So the first years will have to take care of it."

"What?" Regulus wasn't sure who was more shocked, the first years or the upperclassmen. Certainly no one was expecting Giles to say _that_.

"Giles! What can the first years do?" Ariadne laughed. Giles ignored her, turning to Phronsie, who, with Demon Queen, Yaxley, and Urquhart behind her on the stairs, Baddock, Montague, and Mulciber on her left and Regulus, Greengrass, and Calliope on her right, was the center of the first years.

"You will ignore them. You will insult them. You will trip them, you will spill things on them, and you will aim your spells at them and make it look like an accident. You will do everything you possibly can to make their lives miserable that does not get you in trouble- or, at least no more trouble then them. We have to make the Professor's regret doing this. We cannot be seen as the instigators of the trouble, but anytime you provoke the Gryffindors into doing something that will get them in detention, you may respond with something equally bad. In fact, you must. You are going to start a war with the Gryffindors, and you are going to make it look like it's their fault." Giles smiled triumphantly. Regulus was mildly impressed with the plan, except for the fact that he was highly skeptical that his year mates were capable of doing something so complex.

"Giles, why should only the first years do it? They have the best opportunity to provoke the Gryffindors, and the greatest need, but surely we can help protect the purity of the wizarding world as well?" Alcander protested. Clio nodded. Giles answered them dismissively.

"Do what you like. It's the first years I'm concerned with. Now, you lot, do you understand what you have to do?" He turned back towards them. They all nodded, some enthusiastically, some timidly.

"And you'll do it?" He asked menacingly. They all nodded again. He was about to get off the table when Alcander intervened.

"What about him?" He said, gesturing suspiciously towards Regulus. Regulus gulped. Everyone was _looking_ at him. He hated being the center of attention.

"What about him?" Giles asked.

"His brother's a blood traitor, and how do we know he's any different?" Regulus looked nervously at Phronsie. She wouldn't tell his secrets offhand, but if Giles asked her about Regulus she wouldn't lie. And then he'd be done for. Giles looked like he was about to do just that when Narcissa intervened.

"If he were like Sirius, then he would not be in Slytherin, Alcander. I have known him all his life and I promise you he will not make trouble. Regulus hates trouble. Leave him be." She said sharply. Giles nodded and seemed satisfied. Narcissa might have been only a third year, but she was a Black, and also one of the brightest and most beautiful girls in the House, so she was respected. Alcander, however, had never been all that good at picking up social cues,

"But-"

"I said leave him be!" Narcissa snapped at Alcander, rising. "I'm going up to the owlry. Regulus, come with me." She swept out of the room. Regulus followed meekly, leaving his homework on the table. Hopefully Greengrass and Nott wouldn't let any of their idiot year mates steal it.

Narcissa said nothing as they walked from the chilly dungeons up through the warm and bright Great Hall. When they reached the owlry, she sat carefully on a ledge and gestured for him to do the same.

"What are you going to do?" She asked him quietly.

"About what?" Regulus countered, avoiding the question. Narcissa gave him a knowing look.

"You can't lie to me, Reggie. You and Sirius are my brothers in every way but one. I'm closer to you then Bella or Andy, although that's more to do with age than anything else. I know you better then anyone else does."

"Better then Sirius? Better then Phronsie?" Narcissa snorted softly, managing somehow to make it ladylike.

"Neither Sirius nor Phronsie is the type to really know someone. Neither one really looks beneath the surface- Sirius because he believes that actions are more important then character, and Phronsie because she is too self-absorbed. Too shallow, if you'll pardon the pun." Regulus considered this, deciding with mild surprise that it was really quite accurate. Perhaps Narcissa, like Regulus and Uncle Alphard, had a gift for studying people's characters. Regulus was also quite pleased to discover that Narcissa considered him and Sirius her brothers- he felt the same, and he suspected Sirius did as well. They had spent many evenings togetherwatching their parents' parties through the bars of the upstairs balcony, when they were too young to attend. And when Regulus had been younger, he had been sick frequently, and Narcissa and Sirius had used to sneak in to sit on his bed and act out stories from his favorite books for hours so he wouldn't be as miserable. Sometimes they would sing to him as well. Regulus realized with a pang that after Sirius and Narcissa had left for Hogwarts and Regulus stopped getting sick they had grown apart quite a bit. And now that he was in Slytherin, it was going to get even worse.

"Well?" Narcissa said, sharply but not unkindly. Regulus sighed.

"I guess I'll go along with it quietly but try to warn them first." He confessed unhappily, knowing that while Alasdair, Keegan and Milly probably wouldn't mind a certain amount of verbal abuse from him- they knew he had to put up a front- they weren't likely to want to deal with being tripped and "accidentally" cursed all the time.

"I though it was Nott who had befriended a mudblood. Which one do you know well enough to warn?" Narcissa asked, brows arching.

"Oh, you know" Regulus shrugged. "The boys from the boat, and my Potions partner." Narcissa nodded.

"Be careful, Reggie. Life will be much more pleasant for you if you at least appear to be one of the faithful. In fact, in times like these it is dangerous to be anything else. I do not understand how these mudbloods could possibly be worth the risk."

"Cissy, what do you mean, "times like these"? And what did Giles mean when he talked about people taking a stand outside Hogwarts?" Narcissa regarded him thoughtfully for a minute, and then looked off into the distance.

"There is trouble coming, Regulus. You have not heard, because only those who are causing it know as of yet, and you hardly saw Bella at all last summer. I do not know that I should tell you-"She sighed. "I suppose you might as well know. But do not tell Sirius. He is too hot-headed for this kind of information." Regulus nodded. He loved Sirius, but they were not the type of brothers who told each other secrets- Regulus never wanted to know what mischief Sirius was planning, and Sirius never wanted to know any secrets at all- Sirius liked to say things straight out. It wouldn't be hard for Regulus to keep information from him.

"There is man called Lord Voldemort who is gathering followers. Bella is one of them- but she calls him the Dark Lord- you should too. His name should not be spoken. He aims to purify our society, by any means necessary. He may use violence- he has recruited Bella, after all, but he also has more level-headed allies, powerful allies- he is dangerous, and will soon be more so. Reggie, even if I did not want to purify the wizarding world, which I do, I would want to be on his side. Because anyone who is not will very soon be in great danger. And mudbloods and blood traitors will be the first to go." Narcissa's voice was very controlled, but Regulus could hear the emotion behind it. Narcissa was scared.

"He is that bad?" He asked quietly. She just nodded. "What about Andy and Sirius? Will they be hurt?" Regulus felt shaky. He had thought Wizarding politics were bad now, but what Narcissa was warning him about was much, much worse.

"I don't know, Reggie. I believe in the cause, and according to my beliefs, they'd be left alone, because no matter what their choices are, they're purebloods. They're _Blacks_. But I think- from what I've heard- and Reggie, you've got to realize that I'm only thirteen and the only reason I now anything at all is because Bella has no discretion- I think that it's going to be very bad. I think there'll be a war, and even if Andy and Sirius are left alone, Sirius will fight, you know he will. And if he does-"Narcissa took a deep breath. Regulus had never seen her so close to tears. She turned and clasped his hands in her own.

"Reggie, I know you want to stay close to him, and I'm not saying you shouldn't, but if there's a war and he goes to fight then you have to let him go. You can't stay in the middle during a war or you'll get caught in the crossfire, and _I won't lose both my brothers_." She squeezed his hands and stood, wiping her eyes. Regulus hadn't even realized she'd been crying.

"I'm sorry, Reggie. Just- I wanted you to realize that if you're going to try to be on good terms with both sides there's a lot at stake. You might- you might have to make a choice. And if you don't choose, you'd better hope that you're very, very good at fooling people. And from now on, I don't want to know what you believe in. If you're not who you appear to be, I don't want to know. If you come to me for help, I'll give it to you, but I won't pretend, and I won't keep secrets. And that goes for Sirius as well. I love you, but I've chosen a side, and I won't be a traitor."

She left the owlry silently. Regulus wrapped his arms around himself, shivering. He wasn't ready for this. He couldn't handle this, he didn't want to lose his brother or his friends but he didn't want to lose his life either. Regulus knew what he was going to do- He would warn the Gryffindors about Giles's plan and he would warn the GLA- if it formed- about Voldemort. He would put off making a choice because the war hadn't started yet and Hogwarts was safe. He would go on pretending that everything was all right and he was exactly what he was supposed to be. But that was what he was _going_ to do. Later. First, he was going to curl up in this chilly corner of the owlry and cry.


End file.
